A judge has said that “Baby Reindeer” was wrongly labeled as a “true story,” opening the way for a defamation lawsuit from the real-life “Martha” portrayed in the show to proceed.
The woman, Fiona Harvey, says that the hit Netflix show intentionally caused her emotional distress by falsely depicting her in several ways — including that she sexually assaulted and gouged the eyes of Richard Gadd, the show’s creator.
“Baby Reindeer” — a massive hit for Netflix — was first released in April.
Gadd says it’s based on his real-life experiences of being stalked.
In the show, Gadd plays a character named Donny Dunn who is based on himself and who is stalked by a woman named Martha Scott.
As the show gathered steam, viewers began to piece together who the real Martha might be, matching details from the show with real-life information.
Since then, Harvey has come forward and, in June, launched a $170 million defamation lawsuit against the streamer.
Netflix filed a motion to dismiss.
But on Friday, Judge Gary Klausner denied the motion, saying that Netflix had been wrong to call the show a “true story.”
“Less than two minutes into the first show, the text ‘this is a true story’ appears on screen,” Klausner’s ruling stated.
“Believing the series to be true, viewers immediately got to work trying to identify the real Martha,” it added.
In June, The Sunday Times cited unnamed industry sources as saying Gadd had had reservations about the “true story” billing, but that Netflix went ahead anyway.
Pointing to the article, the judge said this could amount to “actual malice” — a standard of proof needed for defamation cases involving public figures — in which Netflix knew it was not true but went ahead and said so anyway.
The judge also noted that the end credits of each episode also included a disclaimer saying that some elements had been fictionalized “for dramatic purposes.”
The judge wrote that there were enough matching details between the show’s portrayal of Martha and the real-life Harvey for viewers to assume that other fictional parts of the show were true.
But there were “major differences” between what Harvey allegedly did in real life and how it was portrayed in the show, the judge wrote.
For example, the show says that Martha was a twice-convicted stalker, that she sexually assaulted Dunn in an alley, that she smashed a bottle over his head, and that she spent up to 16 hours a day waiting outside his home.
But none of this is true of Harvey, the judge wrote.
In July, Gadd shared in court abusive and explicit communications that he claimed Harvey sent him over a three-year period, which he said demonstrated how she had harassed him.
Pointing to several serious allegations about Harvey — including that she had “shoved” Gadd, followed him, and “got ‘handsy’” with him —Netflix argued that the show’s portrayal is still “substantially true,” according to Friday’s ruling.
But the judge said that while the real-life allegations against Harvey are “reprehensible,” Netflix still showed Martha to a “worse degree” that could have a “different effect” on a viewer.
The ruling stated that Netflix also argued that a viewer would not assume the story told in “Baby Reindeer” was true because the show uses a number of surreal cinematic effects.
Klausner disagreed with that, too.
These effects “are not so absurd or surreal that as to neutralize the audience’s expectations that they are watching a ‘true story,’” he wrote.
Netflix should also have known that viewers would seek Harvey out, and made no effort to further hide her identity, he added.
While Netflix’s motion to throw out the case was denied, claims from Harvey related to negligence, violation of her publicity rights, and for punitive damages were also denied.
But her claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress will go ahead, which applies to “extreme and outrageous” false statements.
In September, “Baby Reindeer” won four Emmys, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series and acting nods for both Gadd and Jessica Gunning, who played Martha.
At a press conference after the award ceremony, Gadd emphasized the good the show had done in highlighting sexual violence against men, saying: “It’s touched the lives of so many people.”
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